The Program

The Joint Ph.D. Program in Social Thought and Classics is intended for students whose study of a particular issue or text from the ancient Greek and Roman world requires a broadly inter-disciplinary approach alongside a professional mastery of philological skills.

Those interested in pursuing this joint degree program must first be admitted in EITHER the Committee on Social ThoughtOR the Department of Classics and must complete at minimum the two quarter language survey (Greek or Latin), offered by the Department of Classics, with an average grade of B or higher. Application shall then be made to the second department and, provided that the standards of admission to that department are met, students will be admitted to joint degree status. They will not, however, be considered to have transferred into the second department and their original department will remain their sole department for purposes of registration and financial aid (including dissertation fellowships). They will be assigned two faculty advisors, one whose primary appointment is in Social Thought, one whose primary appointment is in Classics. Students initially admitted to Classics will be expected to complete all requirements for the A.M. in Classical Languages and Literatures in their first year. Students initially admitted to Social Thought may complete the remaining requirements of the A.M. in Classical Languages and Literatures during the second year of study and the A.M. will be awarded at that time. Although students will fulfill the requirements for the A.M. in both Social Thought and Classical Languages and Literatures, they will receive only one Master's degree from the University.

Students admitted to the joint degree program must satisfy both all the normal requirements for the Ph.D. in Classical Languages and Literatures and all the normal requirements for the Ph.D. in Social Thought. The Social Thought language requirement of a high-level pass in a foreign language exam will be automatically met by the requirements of the Classics program. The dissertation proposal will have to be approved by both departments; the dissertation committee will normally include three professors, at least one of whom will come from each department. The committee chair should be a member either of Classics or the Committee on Social Thought, according to the enrollment of the student.

In order to ensure that the combination is genuine and rigorous, those students with joint degree status will be required to offer at least a majority of non-Classical texts on the Social Thought Fundamentals Examination. Students with joint degree status will be encouraged, in consultation with their advisors, to take courses on non-Classical subjects that will help prepare them for this examination.

Because of the difference in the way and extent to which the Classics and the Social Thought Ph.D. programs are regulated, the mode of access to joint degree status will vary, depending upon whether candidates enter into it from the one department or the other.

For a student coming to the joint degree program from the Department of Classics, a typical program of study might look like this:

First Year

At the beginning, diagnostic examinations in Greek and Latin; the two quarter survey in Greek or Latin, followed by the translation examination in that language; two seminars in Classics; one course above the 206 level in the other ancient language; prose composition in Greek or Latin; two additional courses in Social Thought. Linguistic competence in French or German must be demonstrated.

Second Year

The other two quarter sequence in Greek or Latin, followed by the respective translation examination; two more seminars in Classics; four additional courses in Social Thought.

Third Year

Classics Comprehensive examination; three Social Thought classes. Linguistic competence in a second modern language should be demonstrated. (This and the following year could be exchanged).

Fourth Year

Social Thought Fundamentals Examination. (This and the preceding year could be exchanged).

Fifth Year

Submission and approval of dissertation proposal.

Sixth Year

Completion and submission of dissertation.

For a student coming to the joint degree program from the Committee on Social Thought, a typical program of study might look like this (though some students will take longer to complete the requirements for the A.M. in Classical Languages and Literatures):

First Year

At the beginning, diagnostic examinations in Greek and Latin; the two quarter survey in Greek or Latin, followed by the translation examination in that language; one course above the 206 level in the other ancient language; five additional courses. Linguistic competence in French or German must be demonstrated.

Second Year

The remaining requirements for the A.M. in Classical Languages and Literatures; the other two quarter survey in Greek or Latin, followed by the respective translation examination; two seminars in Classics; prose composition in Greek or Latin; three additional courses.

Third Year

Classics Comprehensive examination. Linguistic competence in a second modern language should be demonstrated. (This and the following year could be exchanged).

Fourth Year

Social Thought Fundamentals Examination. (This and the preceding year could be exchanged).